Category Archives: Science

Chemistry, Materials, Physics, Science, Technology

No ordinary glass of water

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Grade schools teach that there are three or four states of matter—solid, liquid, gas and possibly plasma. Nature is much fuzzier than that, however. Depending who you ask, there may be more than a dozen states of matter, along with numerous substates such as glass.

Portrait of C. Austen Angell
C. Austen Angell. Image courtesy Arizona State University

Yes, glass. Scientifically speaking, glass is a highly viscous, noncrystalline substate of matter. It is like a liquid that cools without becoming crystalline. Our everyday silica glass is but one example; many substances, including metals, become glassy under the right conditions.

Physical chemists have struggled for decades to crack the true nature of glass and understand what happens at the transition to and from the glassy state. In 1995, Nobel laureate Philip Anderson called it the “deepest and most interesting unsolved problem in solid state theory.” Now, C. Austen Angell, a chemistry professor at Arizona State University believes he has translated the Rosetta Stone of glassy substances: water.

A glassy riddle: solving the mystery of water glass

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Computing, Consumer, Electromagnetism, Gadgets, Materials, Physics, Science, Technology

Spin control: reading the quantum bit

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Quantum computing artwork
Image courtesy Arizona State University

Some days, I feel like I’m living in the future. Then I remember that I don’t have a flying car, a hyperintelligent monkey sidekick or a quantum computer. Granted, I’ve always suspected a flying car would be a terrible idea (and the less said about the monkey, the better), but I still want my iQuantum. So, what’s the hold up?

Quantum computing is one of those ideas that has enormous potential but is so cutting-edge that even its most basic aspects, like storing and reading data, require a large assortment of people with advanced degrees. Recently, two researchers worked out a way to read quantum states using entanglement, the “spooky action at a distance” that links two quantum particles under certain conditions. The method, which they hit upon while exploring electron-electron interactions, could solve the problem of reading quantum bits (aka “qubits”) once and for all.

ASU researchers untangle quantum quirk

Chemistry, Health, Science, Space, Technology

Spotting smog before it strikes

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More than just skyline blight, smog is an ozone-filled haze packed with the power to inflict or exacerbate ailments in even healthy adults, to say nothing of small children and the elderly. Unfortunately, although scientists know how it forms and even how to detect it, they cannot always predict where it will strike. Now, researchers at Arizona State University and University of California at Berkeley have embarked upon a project that uses NASA satellites to detect smog precursors over a much wider area than before. The research could enable scientists to spot an ozone plume in time to help communities prepare for its health effects.

Pollution modeling via satellite

Consumer, Culture, Genetics, Science, Technology

Study fails commercial ancestry tests

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America may be a melting pot, but the result is generally more stew than fondue; for many of us, where we came from—whether by boat or ice bridge—constitutes a significant part of our identity. Beyond whatever social implications it may have, our heritage slumbers within us in ways we don’t fully understand, yet are fascinated by.

It’s no wonder commercial genetic ancestry tests are so appealing.  Still, a little caveat emptor is in order: According to an article in the journal Science, consumers who plop down their Benjamins for genetic answers may not be getting what they bargained for.

Study probes genetic ancestry tests

Computing, Consumer, Electromagnetism, Engineering, Materials, Physics, Science, Technology

Nanoionic memory: Vive la resistance

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DDRAM computer memoryFor some time now, conventional computer memory has been heading toward a crunch—a physical limit of how much storage can be crammed into a space before it is overwhelmed by heat and power problems. Generally, researchers have tried to avert this heat death in two ways: leapfrogging to the next generation of memory or refining current memory.

Researchers at Arizona State University’s Center for Applied Nanoionics (CANi) have combined the two approaches to create new memory that amps up performance while remaining compatible with today’s devices. CANi also used nanoionics (a technique for moving tiny bits of matter around on a chip) to overcome the limitations of conventional electronics: Instead of moving electrons among ions, nanoionics moves the ions themselves.

Nanoionics may boost memory in consumer electronics